Executive Briefings

CMA CGM Offers New Services to Red Sea, West Africa

By: CMA CGM 07.30.2012

CMA CGM has launched a direct service between Asia and the Red Sea. Dubbed REX 2, it replaces the REX 1 service, which had been operated under a vessel-sharing agreement (VSA) with APL until its cessation at the end of June.

According to CMA CGM, the REX 2 service allows it to remain active on a major trade lane, with a dedicated loop from the Far East to the Red Sea market. REX 2 is being offered under a VSA among CMA CGM, Hanjin, CSCL and Yang Ming. It will deploy one vessel, the Ville d'Aquarius of 3,900 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), in a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Skekou, Singapore, Jeddah, Sokhna and Aqaba. In another company development, CMA CGM has joined with Delmas in the launching of a direct weekly service on the Asia-Africa route. The New Africa Express (AFEX) service replaces the existing Maersk-operated FEW3 service. Also operated in conjunction with Maersk, AFEX involves 10 vessels, two from CMA CGM and eight from Maersk, ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 TEUs. The rotation is Yantian, Nansha, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Capetown, Pointe Noire, Tema, Capetown and Yantian. A key aim of the service will be to develop a new, direct link from Asia to Ghana, the line said.

According to CMA CGM, the REX 2 service allows it to remain active on a major trade lane, with a dedicated loop from the Far East to the Red Sea market. REX 2 is being offered under a VSA among CMA CGM, Hanjin, CSCL and Yang Ming. It will deploy one vessel, the Ville d'Aquarius of 3,900 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), in a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Skekou, Singapore, Jeddah, Sokhna and Aqaba. In another company development, CMA CGM has joined with Delmas in the launching of a direct weekly service on the Asia-Africa route. The New Africa Express (AFEX) service replaces the existing Maersk-operated FEW3 service. Also operated in conjunction with Maersk, AFEX involves 10 vessels, two from CMA CGM and eight from Maersk, ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 TEUs. The rotation is Yantian, Nansha, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Capetown, Pointe Noire, Tema, Capetown and Yantian. A key aim of the service will be to develop a new, direct link from Asia to Ghana, the line said.